One of the horror genre's "most widely read critics" (Rue Morgue # 68), "an accomplished film journalist" (Comic Buyer's Guide #1535), and the award-winning author of Horror Films of the 1980s (2007), The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia (2007) and Horror Films of the 1970s (2002), John Kenneth Muir, presents his blog on film, television and nostalgia, named one of the Top 100 Film Studies Blog on the Net.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Lost in Space Day: "Forbidden World"

In
“Forbidden World,” the Jupiter 2 flees from the robot planet (first encountered
in “The Ghost Planet”), but the robots fire a hyper-atomic missile after the
ship.

The
Jupiter 2 narrowly evades destruction, and crashes on another planet.

Although
Professor Robinson (Guy Williams) orders that no one leave the ship, Dr. Smith
(Jonathan Harris) sends the robot out to test the atmosphere.

When
all contact is lost with the robot, Robinson sends Smith out to find him.

And
when Smith is lost, Will (Bill Mumy) realizes he must rescue his friend. He heads out into the unknown, and runs across an alien named Captain
Tiabo (Wally Cox). Tiabo claims to be a soldier in a vast army, and says that
his people will soon test a secret super-weapon on the Jupiter 2

Meanwhile,
Dr. Smith dregs a keg of explosive liquid and becomes highly combustible. Worse, he has the hiccups…

Lost
in Space’s
second season slide into monumental idiocy continues with “Forbidden World.”

I
don’t write those words lightly or casually.
I have been reviewing episodes of the series every week since January,
and have, I hope, pinpointed strong episodes…but also the series’ overall strong
qualities.

Yet
four episodes in, the second season can be viewed as nothing less than a vast,
catastrophic drop in quality and seriousness.
The novelty of seeing the series in color has worn off, and now I miss
the moody photography of the first season, which -- at the very least -- hid the
seams.

The
slide in narrative quality is exemplified by this episode, which after a strong
start involves Dr. Smith drinking a liquid that turns him into a
walking-talking explosive.

Also
to the bad, we get the worst creature design yet in Lost in Space history: Tiabo’s
hairy bird-alien companion. The monster
is silly in appearance, and unlike the monsters of season one and installments
such as “Wish Upon a Star,” “The Keeper,” or even “One of Our Dogs is Missing,”
couldn’t scare a five year old.

Making
matters worse, this is another Smith/Robot/Will story, wherein the Robinson
family is sidelined. Again, Smith and the Robot go out to a dangerous location;
again Will goes out to rescue them. It’s
all not only horribly familiar at this point, but downright dull.

In "Forbidden World,” we meet a character, Captain Tiabo, who is actually alone on
the plane (save for his monstrous companion), but pretending to be part of a
huge military force. The lesson,
perhaps, is that it is better to meet people honestly and openly than to try to
trick them into thinking you are strong or powerful. Will sees through Tiabo’s misdirection, and
attempts to make friends with him on a human level.

In
a way, “Forbidden World” is not unlike “The Corbomite Maneuver” on Star
Trek, but again, that Star Trek story simply handles the
story in a much more adult, serious and philosophical manner. By comparison, Lost in Space just looks
silly as hell.

That's awesome!!! That's awesome??? I'm not sure what I think of that fact. I love the Outer Limits, but not a big fan of "The Duplicate Man" episode. Kind of like before the Horta starred on N episode of Star Trek it was a big germ in the final Outer Limits episode called "The Probe" (another bad one, IMO).

About John

award-winning author of 27 books including Horror Films FAQ (2013), Horror Films of the 1990s (2011), Horror Films of the 1980s (2007), TV Year (2007), The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia (2007), Mercy in Her Eyes: The Films of Mira Nair (2006),, Best in Show: The Films of Christopher Guest and Company (2004), The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi (2004), An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith (2002), The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film & Television (2004), Exploring Space:1999 (1997), An Analytical Guide to TV's Battlestar Galactica (1998), Terror Television (2001), Space:1999 - The Forsaken (2003) and Horror Films of the 1970s (2002).

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